Hockey player.
Born at Winnipeg on 1 April 1921 to Catherine George (1889-1934) and John Reardon (1883-1936), he began his career as a hockey player with the Blue River Rebels in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (1937-1938), then moved over to the Edmonton Junior Hockey League, where he remained for four seasons.
He entered the National Hockey League as a defenseman in 1940, playing for the Montreal Canadiens for two seasons, and enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1942. In 1943, he was called into service and spent time overseas, but was still able to return to Canada to play hockey. During the war, he spent some time playing for the Ottawa Commandos, helping them win the Allan Cup in 1943. Returning to the Canadiens in 1945, he helped win the Stanley Cup in 1946, facing his brother, Terry Reardon, on the opposing team. Most of the rest of his career was spent with the Canadiens. He played in three All-Star Games and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team twice and Second Team three times in his final five seasons in the League. During his final season in 1949-1950, Reardon had NHL career-highs with 28 points, 27 assists, and nine power-play points. He also had 109 penalty minutes in 67 games.
He was known for his physical style and his willingness to play through pain and injury, and retired from play at a relatively young age, probably due to the numerous injuries he had sustained on the ice. He then pursued an off-ice hockey career, scouting for and managing farm teams before becoming a successful executive with the Canadiens, seeing his team win the Stanley Cup five times from 1956-1960 while he was Vice-president. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1966), Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame (1985), and Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1996).
With his wife Suzanne Raymond (1927-2016), he had three children.
He died at Saint-Saveur, Quebec on 15 March 2008 and was buried in the Cimitière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.
Obituary, Montreal Gazette, 17 March 2008.
Obituary [Suzanne Raymond Reardon], Montreal Gazette, 20 July 2016.
“Ken Reardon,” Wikipedia.
“Kenneth Joseph Reardon,” Colleen Jeffrey Family Tree, Ancestry.
“Ken Reardon,” FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 23 December 2024
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